By Joel Richardson – “Well, here we go. The announcement of the resignation of Pope Benedict [has] caused somewhat of an explosion with the prophecy-sphere of eschatological conspiracy-theorizing and speculation. What of St. Malachy’s prophecy? Does this mean the final pope is here? How did the authors of Petrus Romanus know that the Pope would resign?

The answer to these questions is as follows: St. Malachy’s prophecy is a proven fraud. The next pope is not likely to be the final pope. And for well over two years now, long before Petrus Romanus was written, there has been talk of the Pope resigning. See for example here, where there was public talk of his resignation as late 2011. In fact, Benedict’s brother, George Ratzinger, also a priest, suggested last year that the Pope might retire at age 85. And Benedict, himself even made a case for papal resignation in a…